Paramount Pictures
Famous Players Film Company (1912-1916) Nicknames: “The Masks”, “‘10s Masks” Logo: On a black background, we see two masks. Between them is an oval reading “PRODUCED BY THE FAMOUS PLAYERS CO. ADOLPH ZUKOR PRES.”. FX/SFX: None. Music/Sounds: None or the opening theme. Availability: Extremely rare. Seen on films during the era. Editor’s Note: One of the oldest logos. Paramount Pictures Corporation 1st Logo (1914-1917?) Nicknames: “The Mountain”, “‘10s Mountain” Logo: TBA FX/SFX: None. Music/Sounds: TBA Availability: Ultra rare. Seen on very early films from Paramount Pictures. Editor’s Note: None. 2nd Logo (1917?-February 15, 1927) Nicknames: “The Mountain II”, “‘10s Mountain II” Logo: TBA FX/SFX: None. Music/Sounds: TBA Availability: Pretty common. Seen on films during the era. Editor’s Note: One of the oldest Paramount logos. 3rd Logo (January 18, 1926-May 17, 1955) Nicknames: “The Mountain III”, “‘20s Mountain”, “Ultra Common Mountain” Logo: TBA FX/SFX: TBA Music/Sounds: TBA Availability: Ultra common. Seen on films during the era. Editor’s Note: One of the most famous Paramount logos. 4th Logo (1934-1949) Nicknames: “The Mountain IV”, “‘30s Mountain”, “Ultra Common Mountain II” Logo: TBA FX/SFX: TBA Music/Sounds: TBA Availability: Ultra common. Seen on films during the era. Editor’s Note: None. 5th Logo (December 23, 1950-October 7, 1953) Nicknames: “The Mountain V”, “‘50s Mountain” Logo: On a sky background, we see a lopsided Mountain with “''A Paramount Picture''” on it. We see some stars around it. FX/SFX: Just the clouds gliding. Music/Sounds: The opening theme of the film. Sometimes, it would be silent or on a rare occasion, the Paramount on Parade theme would play. Availability: Ultra rare. Seen on films during the era. Editor’s Note: The stars don’t even connect both sides of the mountain, because of it’s shape. 6th Logo (May 27, 1953; October 16, 1953-September 24, 1975) Nicknames: “The Mountain VI”, “‘50s Mountain II” Logo: On another sky background, we see a mountain located at Peru. We see stars encircling the mountain and “''A Paramount Picture/Release''” (later “''Paramount''”) is seen on the mountain. Byline: * May 27, 1953; October 16, 1953-1968: (bylineless) * 1968-September 24, 1975: “A Gulf+Western Company” Variants: * Sometimes, the font for “''Paramount''” is different. * Starting in 1974, two parts of the byline slide ether and are bolder. * Some films have a VistaVision variant. FX/SFX: Just the clouds gliding. Music/Sounds: Most of the time, it is silent or has the opening theme of the movie. A theme is used for the VistaVision variant. Availability: Extinct. Seen on films during the era. The last film to use this logo was Three Days of the Condor. Editor’s Note: None. 7th Logo (October 8, 1975-December 12, 1986) Nicknames: “The Mountain VII”, “‘70s Mountain”, “Abstract Mountain” Logo: We see the same scenery as before, only this time, less detailed. 22 stars fade in. Then, the script fades in. The background then turns blue. The finished product of this logo turns out to be Paramount’s current print logo from this point onward. Byline: Referred to as “A Gulf+Western Company”, this time written vertically. Variants: *The color tint and size of the logo may vary. *The distance between the mountain tip and the script sometimes varies. *One variation (probably the original) has a smaller bear-circle around a smaller blue mountain, both kind of receded. The Gulf+Western byline is drastically larger, along with the stars. The script is smaller. This rather ugly variation can be seen on The Last Tycoon, Hustle, The Bad News Bears, Leadbelly, Lipstick, Looking for Mr. Goodbar, among others. A less uglier version with resized text (but still keeping the receded near-circle and mountain) can be seen on some films. This variation also lacks a “®” symbol. *On most trailers during the era, “Coming From” appears above the logo. FX/SFX: The fade effects and the clouds gliding. Music/Sounds: Often times, no music or the beginning/ending music from the film. On some occasions, a new fanfare composed by Jerry Goldsmith, which is loosely based on Paramount on Parade was used on the “Coming From” variant of some trailers, such as Saturday Night Fever and Airplane!. A few films such as Starting Over has this fanfare at the beginning. Music/Sounds Variant: On Grease, a different fanfare plays. Availability: Common. It first appeared on Mahogany and was used up to Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. The last film to use this logo was The Golden Child (only at the end; the 8th logo was used at the beginning of the film). Editor’s Note: Another popular Paramount logo and the only one abstract, though the earlier variants look ugly and awkward. 8th Logo (December 12, 1986-February 4, 2003) Nicknames: “The Mountain VIII”, “‘80s Mountain”, “CGI Mountain”, “Ultra Common Mountain III” Logo: On a blue sky background with a yellow sunset, we see a lake with a mountain behind it, redone in CGI. 22 stars (also CGI) encircle the mountain while the camera zooms in. The script fades in, along with the “®” symbol. Byline: * December 12, 1986-August 30, 1989: “A Gulf + Western Company” (it fades in at the same time as the script.) * September 22, 1989-January 13, 1995: “A Paramount Communications Company” (fades in below in white. For the byline’s first year, it faded in at the same time as the script and was in gold.) * 1994-1995: (bylineless) * February 17, 1995-February 4, 2003: “/\ VI/\CO/\/\ CO/\/\P/\NY” (in the 1990 Wigga-Wigga font.) Variants: * For the logo’s first official year (1987, even though it actually debuted in 1986), “''75th Anniversary''” fades in on the mountain near the end. The first film with this logo, The Golden Child, used a more-placeholder logo with a thicker Gulf+Western byline. A “TM” symbol also takes place of the standard “®” symbol in this variation. * Starting on June 18, 1999 with South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut, Paramount slightly redid their logo. The stars are now thicker and have a reflection, the script and byline shine and the mountain turns darker at the end. The Viacom byline also fades in at the same time as the “®” symbol. One film has the Viacom byline fade in st the same time as the script. Closing Variants: * December 12, 1986: The previous logo. * January 1987-February 4, 2003: The ending part of the logo. FX/SFX: CGI. Music/Sounds: Usually silent or the opening theme of the film, though some films like Hot Pursuit, Fatal Attraction, Crocodile Dundee II, Pet Semetary, Black Rain, Wayne’s World, the 1995 VHS of The Big Bus and post-1998 prints of Grease have synthesized chimes segueing into the 1979 fanfare. Music/Sounds Variant: On Campus Man, a different fanfare, composed by James Newton Howard, plays during the logo. Availability: Ultra common. It first appeared on The Golden Child and last appeared overall on the 2003 VHS release of Blue’s Clues: The Big Music. Editor’s Note: A nicely done logo. 9th Logo (March 1, 2002-December 21, 2011) Nicknames: “The Mountain IX”, “‘2000s Mountain”, “CGI Mountain II” Logo: Over a set of clouds, we see comet-like objects flying from above. We pan backwards to reveal that they are Paramount’s trademark stars and reveals to be a reflection. The script zooms out and the stars encircle the mountain. Byline: * March 1, 2002-May 26, 2011: “/\ VI/\CO/\/\ CO/\/\P/\NY” (in the 1990 Wigga-Wigga font.) * May 7, 2010-December 21, 2011: “A VIaCOM COMPANY” (in the 2006 Viacom New font.) Variants: * March 1-December 27, 2002: For the logo’s first year, “''90TH'' ANNIVERSARY” appears on the mountain. The logo’s general shade of color is brighter. Again, a “TM” symbol takes place of the standard “®” symbol in this variation. * A prototype version of the anniversary variant was spotted (and only seen) on the video game The Sum Of All Fears. * This logo can open in two ways: it could fade in already with the cloud or we pan from a black background into the clouds. * Late 2005-2011: The logo has been enhanced. * Starting with Iron Man 2, the logo has been enhanced once more with sleeker stars and shinier text and the Viacom byline is in its 2006 font. Closing Title: Either a still version or just the clouds moving. In late 2006, “DISTRIBUTED BY” appears above the logo. FX/SFX: CGI. Music/Sounds: Despite being popularly said to use the previous logo’s fanfare, the only film that used that fanfare was Mean Girls. The majority of the time, it’s silent or the opening theme. Music/Sounds Variants: * On The Longest Yard, a different fanfare plays. This fanfare was composed by Teddy Castellucci. * On Marci X, a rap tune is heard. Availability: Fairly common. * The first film to use this logo was We Were Soldiers. * The 90th anniversary variant was used on films from mid-late 2002. * The 1995 Viacom byline variant last appeared at the end of Kung Fu Panda 2. * The 2010 Viacom byline variant first appeared on Iron Man 2. * The last film to (officially) use this logo was The Adventures of Tintin. Editor’s Note: Same as the previous logo, except made with better CGI. 10th Logo (December 16, 2011- ) Nicknames: “The Mountain X”, “‘2010s Mountain”, “CGI Mountain III” Logo: On a dark cloudy background, we see some stars shooting on a lake. Then, the camera pans and zooms to the mountain. The script zooms out. The stars encircle the mountain until the camera is finished zooming in. Byline: Referred to as “A VIaCOM COMPANY” (in the 2006 Viacom New font). Variant: When the logo debuted and for the logo’s first official year, 2012, “''100 Years''” appears on the mountain. Closing Title: A still version, sometimes with “DISTRIBUTED BY” above. FX/SFX: CGI. Music/Sounds: A light orchestrated piece done by Michael Giacchino. Sometimes, it is silent or has the opening theme. Music/Sounds Variant: On Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, there is an alternate variant of the fanfare with slight changes, in orchestration, to sound more powerful. Availability: Uncommon. It first appeared on Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. Editor’s Note: None.